Huntington's disease is a disorder that is passed down through families where the nerve cells in certain parts of the brain waste away or degenerate. This is cause by a genetic defect on chromosome 4 which causes a part of the DNA called CAG to repeat more times then normal. Normal= 10-28 repeats but this disorder can cause it to repeat from 36 up to 120 times! When the gene is passed down through the family the child has a 50% chance of having Huntington's disease sometime in his life. If the child doesn't get this gene then he cannot pass it down to his children in the future.
There are 2 forms of Huntington's disease:
The most common is adult-onset Huntington's disease where they usually develop symptoms in the mid 30's and 40's.
An early-onset form of Huntington's disease accounts for a small amount of cases but it's when symptoms occur in childhood or adolescence.
Some symptoms of this disease are: moodiness, restlessness, depression, loss of memory, facial movements and many others. When somebody gets this disease they will usually die 15-20 years from infection but that's if they don't commit suicide before that! Because of this they need care 24 hours a day. Also, there is no known cure to get rid of this disease or even to prevent it from getting worst!
Resource: Huntington's disease. (2011, April 30).
Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001775/
File:Neuron with mHTT inclusion zoomed.jpg
Personal Post #1: Apoptosis Apoptosis or programmed cell death, is a normal component of the development and health of multicellular organisms. Apoptosis is when cells die in response to a variety of stimuli which do so in a controlled and regulated fashion. Apoptosis is a process where cells play an active role in their own death. After receiving instructions the cells undergo apoptosis and a number of different changes occur in the cell. Caspases, a family of protein, are typically activated in the early stages of apoptosis. These proteins break down or cleave cellular components that are required for normal functions in the cell including structural proteins in the cytoskeleton and nuclear proteins such as DNA enzymes. The caspases can also activate other degradative enzymes such as DNases, which begin to cleave the DNA in the nucleus. Process of breaking the cell down: 1. Cell begins to shrink following the cleavage of lamins and actin filaments in the cytoskeleton. A. Breakdown of chromatin in the nucleus. B. Cells continue to shrink. C. Packages themselves into a form that allows for their removal by macrophages. They are responsible for clearing the apoptotic cells from tissues in a clean and tidy fashion. D. The end stages of apoptosis are often characterised by the appearance of membrane blebs or blisters process. Dash, P. (n.d.). Reproductive and cardiovascular disease research group. Retrieved from http://www.sgul.ac.uk/depts/immunology/~dash/apoptosis/ Personal Post #2: Born to RunAlmost everybody knows that the fastest animal on land is the cheetah. But how can they run as fast as they do?Well the cheetah was built to run, it has a specialized body with the muscles and aerodynamics to move fast. A cheetah is quite small only weighing 125 lbs with a slender body, flattened rib cage, small head and long, thin legs which minimizes the air resistance so they can move with lots of aerodynamics. Before even running or before "the chase" the cheetahs oversized, powerful heart pumps huge amounts of blood into the system which go straight to the muscles in its legs. This is considered adrenaline which makes the cheetah take off so quick and keep up to speed. As well while running the cheetah's nostrils and large lungs open up wide so it can take fast and deep air intake to get as much oxygen possible. The cheetah's spine also has a factor in running very quickly because it acts like a spring for the back legs cause it is so flexible, it curves up and down when running. Now the biggest most important reason to why the cheetah can sprint as fast as it can, its leg muscles. Its leg muscles are something that you call "fast twitch muscles" which move quicker than someone else's which allow fast sprints but aren't good for long distance runnin g. Also the joints for the legs rotate further which allow the cheetah to have a longer strides and this is where it can achieve a stride of 25 feet long! The cheetah can have 3 strides per second so when you watch a cheetah run most of the time it is in the air rather than touching the ground. But the biggest problem is after the run or chase when the cheetah is hot and winded, sometimes it can receive brain damage and also is a serious strain on the heart when it's running 70 mph. The cheetah can go 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, so a cheetah has better performance than a porsche! Youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBecfB7Y7vUResource:Layton, J. (n.d.). What makes a cheetah run so fast?. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/mammals/cheetah-speed1.htm
Personal Post #3: Adrenaline! To touch on my last post a bit, how does adrenaline actually work? How is it when faced with danger you have unbelievable strength? Well when faced with fear or a possibly dangerous situation the body takes drastic measures to resort itself back to relaxation (aka an adrenaline rush). Ex: When the body enters a very stressful situation, it sends the message to the brain that something needs to be done to resolve it. The brain then sends its own message to the adrenaline glands which releases the appropriate amount of adrenaline secretion to handle the situation. An adrenaline rush increases your strength, agility and stamina substancially by increasing the heart rate, breathing rate and blood sugar. To increase the muscle strength throughout the body, the secretion of adrenaline is typically used in short outbursts. The muscles wouldnt be able to handle an overly large rush of adrenaline, because they are not strengthened approprietly at normal rest. Therefore the muscles are not capable of handling the weight.
Resources: clark, J. (n.d.). How stuff works: adrenaline. Retrieved from http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/circus-arts/adrenaline-strength2.htm Personal Post #4: Ebola Virus
Ebola, also called a viral hemorrhagic fever, is a virus that infects humans and primates which was first discovered in 1976. Since its discovery we have found four different strains of ebola the most recent in 1995. It has been speculated that one of ebola's strains Ebola Reston has airborne qualities therefore making it transmittable via, from person to person, however, scientists challenge this how is it that this virus can kill its host so quickly and ensure its progression and evolution? 4 strains:
Ebola Zaire
Ebola Suddan
Ebola Reston
Ebola Tai
This virus specifically affects liver cells and reticuloendothelial cells. Blood capillaries when affected start to leak fluids and plasma proteins which cause intravascular coagulation and a zero clotting factor. Clinical shock occurs to the body because of the loss of water volume which thereby causes the organs to fail. The symptoms occur fairly quickly after receiving the virus and usually ony takes around 20 to kill the host. With Ebola people develop fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches, and a loss of apetite. As the disease progresses vomiting occurs as well as, bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, sore throat and chest pain. Because the blood fails to clot the patients bleed from injection sites as well as into the gastrointestinal tract, skin and internal organs.
Hemorrhagic fever - Ebola, Dengue
Resource: Wilson, J. L. (2002, January 07). The ebola virus: candidate for genetic mutation?. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f00/web2/wilson2.html Personal Post #5: BRUISESI was playing hockey and got hit by the puck in the leg and a bruise started to come in. That made me think what makes bruises different colors sometimes? The bruises are different colors at different stages of the healing process. First of all you receive a bruise when your blood vessels ,also know as capillaries, break due to a hit or blow to the skin. 1st stage: When you first get hit and your capillaries break your skin will turn reddish because it is leaking blood. This color means that it is a new bruise.2nd stage: Your skin will start to turn blue or a purple color after a couple days and this is where you can see swelling. This is because the swelling will block the oxygen which will cause hemoglobin, it carries iron in your blood will turn blue. 3rd stage: After 6 days you will start to notice the bruise has turned to a greenish color. This is when the hemoglobin breaks down and your body starts to heal itself.4th and final stage: At 8 or 9 days your bruise will turn yellowish and brownish color and this is the final step for the body to heal itself when it absorbs the last of the blood.
By this photo you can judge how many days aproximately this person has had this bruise. Since it is still mostly blue and purple but just starting to turn greenish it is probably around 4 days old. References: Winkler, S. (n.d.). Bruises: Causes and treatments. Retrieved from http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/problems/beauty/bruise1.htm Personal Post #6: Nanotechnology
My history class just finished watching transcendent man by Ray Kurzweil and he said in the future we will have technology inside of our bodies. He also says that this technology will be present and available in our generation. Ray Kurzweil is a futurist and has been an inventor since the age of 16 inventing a reading machine for the blind. This nanotechnology he speaks of is the size of one of our red blood cells and when placed in our bodies we will be 3 thousand times more intelligent and more advanced in every aspect of the world. For sports we will be able to run a marathon without stopping for breath or stay under water for up to 4 hours! The nanotechnology is like a computer with file so we can download everything from google and other websites into our brains. Plus this technology can reverse the aging process so everyone can live forever. As well, this technology cures every disease and if one of your organs fail it can just replace it with a new one. When watching this movie, nano-technology reminded me a lot of stem cells because both of them have mass potential to our society. Also there are ethics behind both should we or should we not use stem cells or nanotechnology. If this technology is developed in our generation should we use it?
If you get the chance watch Transcendent Man on NetflixResource: Kurzweil, R. (Director) (2009). Transcendent man [DVD]. Available from http://transcendentman.com/ Homework Post #2: Opinion on stem cell research After being a representative of the scientists group my mindset almost changed to believe what the scientists do. The only prohibited source of embryonic stem cells should be reproductive cloning. Even if they don't clone humans there is always that risk, and if someone were to clone a human i think they should get around 10 years in jail, loss of license and a 30 000-50 000$ fine. However all the other sources, existing stem cell lines, excess IVF embryos, creating embryos purely for research and therapeutic cloning should all be controlled by the government in controlled facilities done by experienced professionals at the job. These researches should be paid by the government just like any other doctor or specialist would be. This research should be permitted because it can save lives, improve lives and understand better about how our body works. Hwk Post #3: Part 1 of The Hot ZoneIt has been a while since I read part 1 because I am now on part 3 so it is kind of hazy what happened but a quick summary from looking back is: Charles Monet a man in Kenya, Africa took a vacation to Mount Elgon with a girl. Several days afterwards Charles developed a virus from Kitum Cave that is later in the chapter described as Marburg which is a filovirus. What happened to him was extroardinary, something no one ever saw before. He had a constant headache, his face was expressionless and red eyes, he also vomitted up black stuff which contained the marburg virus. Once in the hospital at Nairob, Dr. Musoke looked after him. Not knowing what was wrong Dr. Musoke operated with just the surgical outfit. Charles then threw up the black vomit all over Dr. Musoke. Eventually Charles dies because his body pretty much liquifies and Dr. Musoke contracts the virus but luckily he survives. Now this started a big panic especially in the hospital where the doctors and nurses dealt with Charles Monet and Dr. Musoke but luckily it was just those two. Then 4 years later it starts talking about the Jaaxs family who are two people working for the military at the Institute. Nancy works in the Bio level 4 room dealing with Ebola, a strain of Marburg, so another filovirus. She has a very close encounter dealing with Ebola when the blood drips through her space suit glove and the second layer as well only to be saved by the rubber gloves which protected the Ebola blood from getting into her freshly cut palm. Later on they discovered different strains of Ebola: Ebola Zaire and Ebola Suddan.
One part in this book that really made me jump i guess is when Nancy Jaax almost had an exposure. That got me thinking how scary it must be in the biohazardous level 4 room because so many things could go wrong. And i couldnt imagine working in the level 4 lab by yourself in the clostriphobic space suit dealing with sharp tools not knowing what might happen next. I think that working with level 4 hot agents would be pretty amazing, especially if you were to discover a new one, but the first part really made me look at all of the dangers hot agents have, but it also made me think about regular virus' such as the cold and how if it was as dangerous as Ebola, everybody would be dead!
HWK Post #4: Part 2 of The Hot Zone
Dalgard, a man who takes care of the monkeys at the Reston monkey house, notices something happening with the monkeys.
He contacts USAAMRID after many more monkeys have died. Dalgard suspects its SFH but isnt sure.
The institute contacts dalgard back saying its only SFH.
However, Dalgard notices monkeys across the hall starting to die so he does a necropsy on a monkey and sends some samples to the institute where a young intern notices a filo virus in the monkey.
The whole institute starts to panic. They go the the monkey house get samples and kill all of the animals in room H and F.
But already 2 people are now sick and they suspect they might have the ebola starin inside them.
And somewheres in the middle Jerry Jaax's brother was murdered.
What really surprised me in this chapter was when Jerry's brother was murdered. So far it was just a shock to me as a reader, but theres no purpose behind it yet either. I'm hoping that this comes back up in the story and is significant to the plot but for right now i'm just wondering why the author put that in there, and then there is also Nancy's mom who is sick and dying. Maybe the author is just doing this to create suspense. Another part that jumped out at me was when they first discovered Ebola in the Washington D.C area. It really made me think about if I was living in an area with an outbreak of a deadly virus. I couldnt imagine all of the panic, and death. It really makes me glad that I live in an area that hasnt been susceptible to receiving new virus'.
HWK Post #5: Part 3 of The Hot Zone
An assembled team of the army moves in to kill the rest of the monkeys.
The team gets the job done without many incidents and the news reporters do not receive any information.
A new and quicker test is developed to check if there is signs of ebola and none of the workers have any signs.
Nancy Jaaxs dad ends up dying.
The army decons the building and hands it back over to Dalgard.
A few months later they receive another virus killing 80% of the monkeys and it seems to be more like a flu. The strain has mutated but somehow it just passes through humans and doesnt kill them.
This time they just let the monkeys die on their own.
Once again in this chapter another family member of the Jaax's dies but with no significant reason to the story which I find weird or different. And also, just hearing how quickly the ebola strain mutated into a flu like virus called Ebola Reston scared me. Because thinking if that was deadly it would have caused a worldwide crisis. But also it made me think, how quickly could the H5N5 virus mutate and if that became contagious through human to human the world would be in big trouble and we would see our next pandemic. Even further, it makes me think of the university that created the strain of h5n5 that is contagious through humans and what if somebody would have done that with the Ebola Reston virus which has an 80% kill rate.
HWK Post #6: Part 4 of The Hot Zone
In this short and final part 4 of the book The Hot Zone Richard Preston, the author talks about his experience hunting down the ebola virus and expressing his opinions on this mystery hot agent. He talks about his trip to Africa and talks about this highway that is called "Aids Highway" and how the aids disease spread so quickly among humans, and expresses that the ebola virus could very well do that. In Africa his main trip is to visit Kitum Cave where the whole story began with Charles Monet contracting the virus and soon enough dying. In the cave Richard digs deeper into the cave analyzing and describing everything he sees in the cave. He described how you could see aligator teeth from long ago before the cave and mountain was ice, and all of the buffalo and elephant tracks within the cave. Once he reached far enough into the cave he noticed spiders and spider webs and thought to himself that spiders could be the animals that are the vector of this disease, they bite humans and infect them.
He then resumes the story by going to the monkey house where he looks inside a window and sees plants growing inside knowing that "It will be back".
I thought that this was an amazing way to end the story because I was not expecting the author to have looked for ebola or even write about his own experience. It was a great way for the author to share his expertise and his opinions and thoughts.I was definately surprised when the Richard thought that maybe spiders were the vector to this virus, but all of the highest ranked scientists in virology could not find out what carried the virus. But a writer, an author could have found out? I am really interested in knowing if they have discovered where ebola hides and if not, how come they havnt? Also the last sentence really shocked me, "It will be back" when reading this it sent shivers down my spine because the fact is it will be back again but we cannot tell or know how deadly or contagious the new strain will be. Also, just knowing that another outbreak of a new ebola strain could occur in my lifetime. This was an interesting book that was a true story with a very well written and detailed plot, I really liked this book!
Personal Post #7: Albinism (albino animals) I've never actually saw an albino animal but i was wondering what makes animals albino when there born? and how rare is it? Every animal from cockroaches to apes can have albinism because they make melanin. Melanin is a pigment and when you have albinism your body isnt creating enough of this pigment. Melanin colors our eyes, hair and skin, and also protects our skin from ultraviolet rays and also helps our eyes develop and handle visible light properly. So right away you can see that if animals dont create enough melanin then we are more susceptible to uv rays which can cause cancer. Plus animals with white skin are easily spotted by predators and excluded from their family because they look foreign to them. However, not all albinism turns your skin white it all depends on how much melanin you're missing. Facts: At least 300 different species in North America have been reported with albinism. Researchers observe that albinism occurs once in every 10 000 mammal births. And even more common in birds with once in every 1 764 births.
Everybody has had goosebumps in their life wether you were cold or scared, but not everybody knows why we get these bumps. Goosebumps are a physiological phenomenon that we inherited from our animal ancestors; meaning goosebumps are no longer of use to us. Goosebumps occur on animals as well but for them it is to add another layer of fur by making each hair stand up straight which insulates them and keeps heat in. This is not of use to us because we dont have enough hair to insulate our bodies. Also, by little muscles in each hair contracting and standing up straight, it makes the animal seem bigger so when they're scared they use this to make themselves look bigger and be able to scare away another animal. And finally by having goosebumps it releases a stress hormone called adrenaline. But there is many other ways to release adrenaline, other signs include: tears, sweaty palms, trembling hands, and butterflies in your stomach. Resources:
Bubenik, G. A. (2003, september 1). Why do humans get "goosebumps" when they are cold, or under other circumstances?. Retrieved from www.scientificamerican.com
Personal Post #9: "The meanest animal in the world"
The honey badger has been refferred to as the meanest animal in the world, mainly because it is considered to have no enemies other than humans. However, the odd badger is killed by lions and leopards on occasion. But what makes this animal so unique is that, it is impervious to bee stings and can survive a venomous snake attack because of its thick skin. They are less sensitive to venom then other mammals. So really the honey badger shouldnt be scared of anything. But even if they seem invicible they only, likely, live 7-8 years in the wild but in captivity they live up to 26 years. This suggests that maybe their is a predator that eats the honey badger. Honey badgers themselves eat almost anything. They eat fruits, insects, other sorts of prey and of course as the name sugests they do eat honey. To find the beehives, it is reported, that their is a mutualism between the honey badger and a bird, called honey guides. What the bird does is essentially gets the attention of the badger and leads it to the closest food mainly being beehives. Africas most fearless animal, i know i wouldnt mess with it. References:
Personal Post #10: Spin off of the book The Hot Zone
After reading The Hot Zone it really intrigued me to find out where the virus ebola was hiding between epidemics because it did not specify in the book. While reading an article about it they say that their best chance at finding the natural reservoir of ebola is when an outbreak occurs but because they are more focused on controlling it, ebola walks away without a trace. Many, many times expert teams have been sent out to look for the reservoir but each time came up empty. The article written in 2003 says that up to this day we are still not sure where the reservoir is or what animal transfers ebola to humans. However scientists have a speculation that bats are the natural reservoir for ebola. Scientific experiments show that bats, when injected with ebola, survive the disease. This means that since ebola doesnt kill the bats that bats could very well be the natural reservoir. And bats are found in almost every outbreak. Even though they arent 100% sure, they have outnumbering statistics that it is true. There have been cases of people dying due to ebola ex: at least 60 miners died from marburg in congo, 6 of the 7 mining quarries were open but the 7th was located underground where there were estimated 30 000 bats living. Everyone who contracte marburg worked underground. Also, in a Sudanese cotton factory 6 people died and there was bats living in the roofs. But the reason they arent completely sure is because they have not yet been able to isolate the virus in a single bat. So even though we have some evidence and statistics the filovirus, ebola, is still a mystery to humans and to discover and fully understand it will be a nearly impossible task.
HWK #1: Huntington's Disease
There are 2 forms of Huntington's disease:
- The most common is adult-onset Huntington's disease where they usually develop symptoms in the mid 30's and 40's.
- An early-onset form of Huntington's disease accounts for a small amount of cases but it's when symptoms occur in childhood or adolescence.
Some symptoms of this disease are: moodiness, restlessness, depression, loss of memory, facial movements and many others. When somebody gets this disease they will usually die 15-20 years from infection but that's if they don't commit suicide before that! Because of this they need care 24 hours a day. Also, there is no known cure to get rid of this disease or even to prevent it from getting worst!Resource:
Huntington's disease. (2011, April 30).
Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001775/
Personal Post #1: Apoptosis
Apoptosis or programmed cell death, is a normal component of the development and health of multicellular organisms. Apoptosis is when cells die in response to a variety of stimuli which do so in a controlled and regulated fashion. Apoptosis is a process where cells play an active role in their own death. After receiving instructions the cells undergo apoptosis and a number of different changes occur in the cell. Caspases, a family of protein, are typically activated in the early stages of apoptosis. These proteins break down or cleave cellular components that are required for normal functions in the cell including structural proteins in the cytoskeleton and nuclear proteins such as DNA enzymes. The caspases can also activate other degradative enzymes such as DNases, which begin to cleave the DNA in the nucleus.
Process of breaking the cell down:
1. Cell begins to shrink following the cleavage of lamins and actin filaments in the cytoskeleton.
A. Breakdown of chromatin in the nucleus.
B. Cells continue to shrink.
C. Packages themselves into a form that allows for their removal by macrophages. They are responsible for clearing the apoptotic cells from tissues in a clean and tidy fashion.
D. The end stages of apoptosis are often characterised by the appearance of membrane blebs or blisters process.
Dash, P. (n.d.). Reproductive and cardiovascular disease research group. Retrieved from http://www.sgul.ac.uk/depts/immunology/~dash/apoptosis/
Personal Post #2: Born to RunAlmost everybody knows that the fastest animal on land is the cheetah. But how can they run as fast as they do?Well the cheetah was built to run, it has a specialized body with the muscles and aerodynamics to move fast. A cheetah is quite small only weighing 125 lbs with a slender body, flattened rib cage, small head and long, thin legs which minimizes the air resistance so they can move with lots of aerodynamics. Before even running or before "the chase" the cheetahs oversized, powerful heart pumps huge amounts of blood into the system which go straight to the muscles in its legs. This is considered adrenaline which makes the cheetah take off so quick and keep up to speed. As well while running the cheetah's nostrils and large lungs open up wide so it can take fast and deep air intake to get as much oxygen possible. The cheetah's spine also has a factor in running very quickly because it acts like a spring for the back legs cause it is so flexible, it curves up and down when running. Now the biggest most important reason to why the cheetah can sprint as fast as it can, its leg muscles. Its leg muscles are something that you call "fast twitch muscles" which move quicker than someone else's which allow fast sprints but aren't good for long distance runnin g. Also the joints for the legs rotate further which allow the cheetah to have a longer strides and this is where it can achieve a stride of 25 feet long! The cheetah can have 3 strides per second so when you watch a cheetah run most of the time it is in the air rather than touching the ground. But the biggest problem is after the run or chase when the cheetah is hot and winded, sometimes it can receive brain damage and also is a serious strain on the heart when it's running 70 mph. The cheetah can go 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, so a cheetah has better performance than a porsche! Youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBecfB7Y7vUResource:Layton, J. (n.d.). What makes a cheetah run so fast?. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/mammals/cheetah-speed1.htm
Personal Post #3: Adrenaline!
To touch on my last post a bit, how does adrenaline actually work? How is it when faced with danger you have unbelievable strength? Well when faced with fear or a possibly dangerous situation the body takes drastic measures to resort itself back to relaxation (aka an adrenaline rush). Ex: When the body enters a very stressful situation, it sends the message to the brain that something needs to be done to resolve it. The brain then sends its own message to the adrenaline glands which releases the appropriate amount of adrenaline secretion to handle the situation. An adrenaline rush increases your strength, agility and stamina substancially by increasing the heart rate, breathing rate and blood sugar. To increase the muscle strength throughout the body, the secretion of adrenaline is typically used in short outbursts. The muscles wouldnt be able to handle an overly large rush of adrenaline, because they are not strengthened approprietly at normal rest. Therefore the muscles are not capable of handling the weight.
Resources:
clark, J. (n.d.). How stuff works: adrenaline. Retrieved from http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/circus-arts/adrenaline-strength2.htm
Personal Post #4: Ebola Virus
Ebola, also called a viral hemorrhagic fever, is a virus that infects humans and primates which was first discovered in 1976. Since its discovery we have found four different strains of ebola the most recent in 1995. It has been speculated that one of ebola's strains Ebola Reston has airborne qualities therefore making it transmittable via, from person to person, however, scientists challenge this how is it that this virus can kill its host so quickly and ensure its progression and evolution?
4 strains:
This virus specifically affects liver cells and reticuloendothelial cells. Blood capillaries when affected start to leak fluids and plasma proteins which cause intravascular coagulation and a zero clotting factor. Clinical shock occurs to the body because of the loss of water volume which thereby causes the organs to fail. The symptoms occur fairly quickly after receiving the virus and usually ony takes around 20 to kill the host. With Ebola people develop fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches, and a loss of apetite. As the disease progresses vomiting occurs as well as, bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, sore throat and chest pain. Because the blood fails to clot the patients bleed from injection sites as well as into the gastrointestinal tract, skin and internal organs.
Wilson, J. L. (2002, January 07). The ebola virus: candidate for genetic mutation?. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f00/web2/wilson2.html
Personal Post #5: BRUISESI was playing hockey and got hit by the puck in the leg and a bruise started to come in. That made me think what makes bruises different colors sometimes? The bruises are different colors at different stages of the healing process. First of all you receive a bruise when your blood vessels ,also know as capillaries, break due to a hit or blow to the skin. 1st stage: When you first get hit and your capillaries break your skin will turn reddish because it is leaking blood. This color means that it is a new bruise.2nd stage: Your skin will start to turn blue or a purple color after a couple days and this is where you can see swelling. This is because the swelling will block the oxygen which will cause hemoglobin, it carries iron in your blood will turn blue. 3rd stage: After 6 days you will start to notice the bruise has turned to a greenish color. This is when the hemoglobin breaks down and your body starts to heal itself.4th and final stage: At 8 or 9 days your bruise will turn yellowish and brownish color and this is the final step for the body to heal itself when it absorbs the last of the blood.
References:
Winkler, S. (n.d.). Bruises: Causes and treatments. Retrieved from http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/problems/beauty/bruise1.htm
Personal Post #6: Nanotechnology
My history class just finished watching transcendent man by Ray Kurzweil and he said in the future we will have technology inside of our bodies. He also says that this technology will be present and available in our generation. Ray Kurzweil is a futurist and has been an inventor since the age of 16 inventing a reading machine for the blind. This nanotechnology he speaks of is the size of one of our red blood cells and when placed in our bodies we will be 3 thousand times more intelligent and more advanced in every aspect of the world. For sports we will be able to run a marathon without stopping for breath or stay under water for up to 4 hours! The nanotechnology is like a computer with file so we can download everything from google and other websites into our brains. Plus this technology can reverse the aging process so everyone can live forever. As well, this technology cures every disease and if one of your organs fail it can just replace it with a new one. When watching this movie, nano-technology reminded me a lot of stem cells because both of them have mass potential to our society. Also there are ethics behind both should we or should we not use stem cells or nanotechnology. If this technology is developed in our generation should we use it?
Kurzweil, R. (Director) (2009). Transcendent man [DVD]. Available from http://transcendentman.com/
Homework Post #2: Opinion on stem cell research
After being a representative of the scientists group my mindset almost changed to believe what the scientists do. The only prohibited source of embryonic stem cells should be reproductive cloning. Even if they don't clone humans there is always that risk, and if someone were to clone a human i think they should get around 10 years in jail, loss of license and a 30 000-50 000$ fine. However all the other sources, existing stem cell lines, excess IVF embryos, creating embryos purely for research and therapeutic cloning should all be controlled by the government in controlled facilities done by experienced professionals at the job. These researches should be paid by the government just like any other doctor or specialist would be. This research should be permitted because it can save lives, improve lives and understand better about how our body works.
Hwk Post #3: Part 1 of The Hot ZoneIt has been a while since I read part 1 because I am now on part 3 so it is kind of hazy what happened but a quick summary from looking back is:
Charles Monet a man in Kenya, Africa took a vacation to Mount Elgon with a girl. Several days afterwards Charles developed a virus from Kitum Cave that is later in the chapter described as Marburg which is a filovirus. What happened to him was extroardinary, something no one ever saw before. He had a constant headache, his face was expressionless and red eyes, he also vomitted up black stuff which contained the marburg virus. Once in the hospital at Nairob, Dr. Musoke looked after him. Not knowing what was wrong Dr. Musoke operated with just the surgical outfit. Charles then threw up the black vomit all over Dr. Musoke. Eventually Charles dies because his body pretty much liquifies and Dr. Musoke contracts the virus but luckily he survives. Now this started a big panic especially in the hospital where the doctors and nurses dealt with Charles Monet and Dr. Musoke but luckily it was just those two. Then 4 years later it starts talking about the Jaaxs family who are two people working for the military at the Institute. Nancy works in the Bio level 4 room dealing with Ebola, a strain of Marburg, so another filovirus. She has a very close encounter dealing with Ebola when the blood drips through her space suit glove and the second layer as well only to be saved by the rubber gloves which protected the Ebola blood from getting into her freshly cut palm. Later on they discovered different strains of Ebola: Ebola Zaire and Ebola Suddan.
One part in this book that really made me jump i guess is when Nancy Jaax almost had an exposure. That got me thinking how scary it must be in the biohazardous level 4 room because so many things could go wrong. And i couldnt imagine working in the level 4 lab by yourself in the clostriphobic space suit dealing with sharp tools not knowing what might happen next. I think that working with level 4 hot agents would be pretty amazing, especially if you were to discover a new one, but the first part really made me look at all of the dangers hot agents have, but it also made me think about regular virus' such as the cold and how if it was as dangerous as Ebola, everybody would be dead!
HWK Post #4: Part 2 of The Hot Zone
- Dalgard, a man who takes care of the monkeys at the Reston monkey house, notices something happening with the monkeys.
- He contacts USAAMRID after many more monkeys have died. Dalgard suspects its SFH but isnt sure.
- The institute contacts dalgard back saying its only SFH.
- However, Dalgard notices monkeys across the hall starting to die so he does a necropsy on a monkey and sends some samples to the institute where a young intern notices a filo virus in the monkey.
- The whole institute starts to panic. They go the the monkey house get samples and kill all of the animals in room H and F.
- But already 2 people are now sick and they suspect they might have the ebola starin inside them.
- And somewheres in the middle Jerry Jaax's brother was murdered.
What really surprised me in this chapter was when Jerry's brother was murdered. So far it was just a shock to me as a reader, but theres no purpose behind it yet either. I'm hoping that this comes back up in the story and is significant to the plot but for right now i'm just wondering why the author put that in there, and then there is also Nancy's mom who is sick and dying. Maybe the author is just doing this to create suspense. Another part that jumped out at me was when they first discovered Ebola in the Washington D.C area. It really made me think about if I was living in an area with an outbreak of a deadly virus. I couldnt imagine all of the panic, and death. It really makes me glad that I live in an area that hasnt been susceptible to receiving new virus'.HWK Post #5: Part 3 of The Hot Zone
- An assembled team of the army moves in to kill the rest of the monkeys.
- The team gets the job done without many incidents and the news reporters do not receive any information.
- A new and quicker test is developed to check if there is signs of ebola and none of the workers have any signs.
- Nancy Jaaxs dad ends up dying.
- The army decons the building and hands it back over to Dalgard.
- A few months later they receive another virus killing 80% of the monkeys and it seems to be more like a flu. The strain has mutated but somehow it just passes through humans and doesnt kill them.
- This time they just let the monkeys die on their own.
Once again in this chapter another family member of the Jaax's dies but with no significant reason to the story which I find weird or different. And also, just hearing how quickly the ebola strain mutated into a flu like virus called Ebola Reston scared me. Because thinking if that was deadly it would have caused a worldwide crisis. But also it made me think, how quickly could the H5N5 virus mutate and if that became contagious through human to human the world would be in big trouble and we would see our next pandemic. Even further, it makes me think of the university that created the strain of h5n5 that is contagious through humans and what if somebody would have done that with the Ebola Reston virus which has an 80% kill rate.HWK Post #6: Part 4 of The Hot Zone
In this short and final part 4 of the book The Hot Zone Richard Preston, the author talks about his experience hunting down the ebola virus and expressing his opinions on this mystery hot agent. He talks about his trip to Africa and talks about this highway that is called "Aids Highway" and how the aids disease spread so quickly among humans, and expresses that the ebola virus could very well do that. In Africa his main trip is to visit Kitum Cave where the whole story began with Charles Monet contracting the virus and soon enough dying. In the cave Richard digs deeper into the cave analyzing and describing everything he sees in the cave. He described how you could see aligator teeth from long ago before the cave and mountain was ice, and all of the buffalo and elephant tracks within the cave. Once he reached far enough into the cave he noticed spiders and spider webs and thought to himself that spiders could be the animals that are the vector of this disease, they bite humans and infect them.
He then resumes the story by going to the monkey house where he looks inside a window and sees plants growing inside knowing that "It will be back".
I thought that this was an amazing way to end the story because I was not expecting the author to have looked for ebola or even write about his own experience. It was a great way for the author to share his expertise and his opinions and thoughts.I was definately surprised when the Richard thought that maybe spiders were the vector to this virus, but all of the highest ranked scientists in virology could not find out what carried the virus. But a writer, an author could have found out? I am really interested in knowing if they have discovered where ebola hides and if not, how come they havnt? Also the last sentence really shocked me, "It will be back" when reading this it sent shivers down my spine because the fact is it will be back again but we cannot tell or know how deadly or contagious the new strain will be. Also, just knowing that another outbreak of a new ebola strain could occur in my lifetime. This was an interesting book that was a true story with a very well written and detailed plot, I really liked this book!
Personal Post #7: Albinism (albino animals)
I've never actually saw an albino animal but i was wondering what makes animals albino when there born? and how rare is it?
Every animal from cockroaches to apes can have albinism because they make melanin. Melanin is a pigment and when you have albinism your body isnt creating enough of this pigment. Melanin colors our eyes, hair and skin, and also protects our skin from ultraviolet rays and also helps our eyes develop and handle visible light properly. So right away you can see that if animals dont create enough melanin then we are more susceptible to uv rays which can cause cancer. Plus animals with white skin are easily spotted by predators and excluded from their family because they look foreign to them. However, not all albinism turns your skin white it all depends on how much melanin you're missing.
Facts: At least 300 different species in North America have been reported with albinism. Researchers observe that albinism occurs once in every 10 000 mammal births. And even more common in birds with once in every 1 764 births.
Personal Post #8: GooseBumps!
Everybody has had goosebumps in their life wether you were cold or scared, but not everybody knows why we get these bumps. Goosebumps are a physiological phenomenon that we inherited from our animal ancestors; meaning goosebumps are no longer of use to us. Goosebumps occur on animals as well but for them it is to add another layer of fur by making each hair stand up straight which insulates them and keeps heat in. This is not of use to us because we dont have enough hair to insulate our bodies. Also, by little muscles in each hair contracting and standing up straight, it makes the animal seem bigger so when they're scared they use this to make themselves look bigger and be able to scare away another animal. And finally by having goosebumps it releases a stress hormone called adrenaline. But there is many other ways to release adrenaline, other signs include: tears, sweaty palms, trembling hands, and butterflies in your stomach.
Resources:
Bubenik, G. A. (2003, september 1). Why do humans get "goosebumps" when they are cold, or under other circumstances?. Retrieved from www.scientificamerican.com
Personal Post #9: "The meanest animal in the world"
The honey badger has been refferred to as the meanest animal in the world, mainly because it is considered to have no enemies other than humans. However, the odd badger is killed by lions and leopards on occasion. But what makes this animal so unique is that, it is impervious to bee stings and can survive a venomous snake attack because of its thick skin. They are less sensitive to venom then other mammals. So really the honey badger shouldnt be scared of anything. But even if they seem invicible they only, likely, live 7-8 years in the wild but in captivity they live up to 26 years. This suggests that maybe their is a predator that eats the honey badger. Honey badgers themselves eat almost anything. They eat fruits, insects, other sorts of prey and of course as the name sugests they do eat honey. To find the beehives, it is reported, that their is a mutualism between the honey badger and a bird, called honey guides. What the bird does is essentially gets the attention of the badger and leads it to the closest food mainly being beehives.
References:
Personal Post #10: Spin off of the book The Hot Zone
After reading The Hot Zone it really intrigued me to find out where the virus ebola was hiding between epidemics because it did not specify in the book.
While reading an article about it they say that their best chance at finding the natural reservoir of ebola is when an outbreak occurs but because they are more focused on controlling it, ebola walks away without a trace. Many, many times expert teams have been sent out to look for the reservoir but each time came up empty. The article written in 2003 says that up to this day we are still not sure where the reservoir is or what animal transfers ebola to humans. However scientists have a speculation that bats are the natural reservoir for ebola. Scientific experiments show that bats, when injected with ebola, survive the disease. This means that since ebola doesnt kill the bats that bats could very well be the natural reservoir. And bats are found in almost every outbreak. Even though they arent 100% sure, they have outnumbering statistics that it is true. There have been cases of people dying due to ebola ex: at least 60 miners died from marburg in congo, 6 of the 7 mining quarries were open but the 7th was located underground where there were estimated 30 000 bats living. Everyone who contracte marburg worked underground. Also, in a Sudanese cotton factory 6 people died and there was bats living in the roofs. But the reason they arent completely sure is because they have not yet been able to isolate the virus in a single bat. So even though we have some evidence and statistics the filovirus, ebola, is still a mystery to humans and to discover and fully understand it will be a nearly impossible task.
Resources:
- Lovgren, S. (2003, February 19). Where does ebola hide between epidemics?. National Geographic News. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0219_030219_ebolaorigin.html